SORROW WOODS (9 page)

“toilet” at the back of the other building. It is a small piece of wood attached to the outhouse and is no bigger than a front door. Behind the piece of wood is a bucket that sits in a mound of soil with a toilet seat over the top of it. I make a face.

I take a deep breath and peer inside. The relief of finding it empty washes over me. I don’t feel like I can pee in it though. If I pee in it, then Serena has to empty it. I ignore the bucket and walk across the rest of the dusty ground until I’m in the woods.

When I’m finished and headed back toward the shack, I notice Serena walking towards the

front door. She has a wooden basket in her hand and there are splashes of dust and dirt across her white, knee-length nightie. She looks exhausted, yet wide awake and alive at the same time. My

eyes can’t help but travel the curves of her extremely toned body. The way the nightie clings to her small waist and round hips leaves me almost breathless. I can’t believe something this beautiful has been locked away in this shack her whole life. My eyes drift to her round breasts that sit pertly on her chest, gently bouncing up and down as she walks.

“Where have you been?” I ask, feeling a frown creep across my face.

She pushes a piece of her long hair behind her ear and raises her eyebrows at me. “Oh, and

good morning to you too, Kaiden.”

“Sorry,” I say. I stride quickly towards her so we meet at the foot of the steps. “Good

morning…and where have you been?”

She rolls her eyes and stomps up the stairs. “Chasing chickens.”

“There you are!” says Elodie, marching up to me as I follow Serena into the shack. “Have you

had a poo?”

I cough and glance up at Serena to find her smirking at me. “No Elodie, I’ve not had a poo.”

Elodie puts her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes at me. “Are you sure? You were

gone ages!”

“I’m sure,” I say, sitting at the table and pulling the map close to me.

“Well,” she says, climbing up onto the seat next to me, “if you did poo, I hope you cleaned

the toilet out. If you leave poo in there, it smells and all the flies come.”

I try to block out the images that are flashing through my mind and shrug. “Good thing I

didn’t poo then, isn’t it?”

“Can we please stop saying poo?” Serena asks, sounding annoyed.

Elodie and I both look up at Serena and start laughing.

“It’s not funny,” she says, “we’re about to eat.”

“What are we eating anyway?” I ask.

Serena glances towards the stove, which is really more like the type of a gas ring that I use

when I go camping. “Scrambled eggs,” she sighs.

“No toast?” shrieks Elodie.

“The bread is stale, Elodie. Mamma said she is bringing some more back.”

Bread doesn’t last more than a few days, I think, which makes me wonder what they eat and

how they store stuff.

“What did you have to eat last night?” I ask.

“Fish,” grunts Elodie as he shoots Serena a distasteful look.

Serena huffs and places three plates down onto the table. “Elodie always moans about fish,”

she informs me. “We didn’t just have fish. We also had rice, potatoes, carrots, and onions.”

So they have balanced meals; that’s good at least. “Sound nice. Was it fresh fish?”

Elodie nods. “We caught it from the lake a few days ago and Serena said we couldn’t save it

any longer so we had to eat it, even though we’d had it for two nights running.”

I smile and glance up at Serena, who shakes her head. I can tell that she’s still not sure about

me, but that doesn’t matter. I’m sure I’ll soon change her mind.

The eggs are nice. Even if I hadn’t had known they were only just collected, then I certainly

would know now. They taste fresher, and the yolk is darker and tastier than the eggs that I eat at home.

“So where’s this lake?” I ask, trying not to eat too quickly.

“It’s over by the creek,” says Elodie. “We’re gonna go there later. Do you wanna come with

us?”

I nod. “Are you going to fish?”

Serena laughs. “Not today. If we did, I would have to listen to Elodie complain about fish for

dinner the rest of the week. We’re swimming.”

I don’t know what lake they’re talking about and I don’t know where the creek is, but the

thought of swimming in fresh water with them makes me impatient to get there. I polish off my

plate and gulp down the remaining black tea in my mug.

“That was delicious. Thanks,” I say with complete sincerity.

“You’re welcome.” Serena stands and gathers the plates in her hands before walking out the

front door.

“Where is she going?” I ask Elodie.

“To wash them,” she says, looking at me as if I should already know that. She pulls the map

back in front of us. “So, tell me what you know.”

And that’s exactly what I do.

Four hours later, when the sun is at its highest in the sky and all of my bodily fluids have been sweated out of me, I find myself hiking up a mountain behind Serena, whilst trying not to constantly stare at her toned backside. The trees are scarce up here now, and I still have no idea where it is that we’re going.

After breakfast, I spent an hour telling Elodie and Serena where in the world we live. I told

them about the different ways people go about their days. I still can’t believe that they have no idea how normal people live. What sort of person keeps children hidden away like this? Unfortunately, I know exactly what sort of person does that.

“We’re here,” says Elodie, interrupting my thoughts. She pulls all of her clothes off until

she’s standing in nothing but her faded grey knickers.

I look around and see nothing but the valley below us and the sky above us.

“What do you mean we’re here? I thought we were going to the lake?” I ask, confused.

Serena smiles and peels her black sundress over her head. I wasn’t expecting her to do that,

which is why I don’t avert my eyes. Underneath her black, strappy dress, she is wearing a tiny black crop top and a pair of black knickers. She pulls off her shoes and stands stock still, staring at me.

“You’re not going into the water like that are you?” she asks, not answering my questions.

My eyes are travelling all over her body. I can’t believe the way it looks, as if she goes to the gym every single day. It’s not manly muscle but slender, womanly curves and defined muscles that

stare back at me. I look down at my clothes and shrug. I pull my jeans and socks off, peeling my t-shirt off over my head. I leave my boxers on.

“Are you going to tell me where this lake is?” I ask again.

Serena wraps her fingers around my wrist and pulls me across the rocky ground until we’re

at the very top of the mountain. I step forward and see a huge body of water below me. I look back at Serena and feel my heart jump into my throat when I see Elodie sprinting past us, launching

herself off the side of the mountain. Serena laughs.

“You’re not too scared to jump into a little lake, are you?” she teases.

I shake my head but don’t look at her. I’m too busy watching Elodie plummet through the

sky before slicing through the water. I don’t breathe for the entire four seconds that Elodie is under the water, not until her head bobs up and I see her hand waving at us.

“Come on, wimpy boy.”

I turn back around and watch as Serena does exactly the same as Elodie, except instead of

just jumping, she dives cleanly through the air. She’s only under the water for two seconds before she bursts back through the surface and grins at me. I don’t know how far the drop is, but it’s more than I’ve ever jumped before.

Still, I can’t stay here so I take four steps back and run as fast as my body will carry me off the edge. The warm air whips across my skin as I drop through the sky. The water is getting closer and closer to my feet. I can’t remember what to do. Do I point my toes? Yes, I must or else I’ll break my feet. Should my arms be close to my side? I have just enough time to make myself as streamlined as possible before I feel the coolness of water on the tip of my toes.

My whole body plunges into the freezing cold water, stealing my breath away. I kick hard until

my head surfaces, and then I pant and cough the breath back in my lungs. The shock of going from

boiling hot to freezing cold is too much. My chest aches and my eyes sting.

“There he is,” says Serena, laughing as she swims up to me. “Are you alright?”

I nod and cough. “I think so,” I rasp.

“He’s not like us,” says Elodie with a grin. “He’s not used to it.”

Serena treads water directly in front of me. The water drips off her hair and down her face. I

want to touch her and see what her skin feels like in the water. Before I can reach out to her, she kicks out and swims away from me.

I shake my head, sending droplets of water flying out around me. I shouldn’t be thinking

about her like that anyway. I keep forgetting that I’m supposed to hate her. I rub my face with my hands and spin around to see where they’re swimming to, but I can’t see anything except water.

“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to keep up with them. I’ve never met anyone else in my

life that can swim or run as fast as these two.

“To land,” says Serena. “Keep up, wimpy boy.”

I wish she wouldn’t call me that. She wouldn’t think I was a wimpy boy if she knew all of the

horrible shit I’ve done over the years. My parents certainly wouldn’t call me a wimpy boy. I think about my Dad and what he would say if he could see me now. I smile as I think about the look on his face. Maybe he’d change his opinion of me. Maybe he wouldn’t. Either way, I don’t think I really

care.

My watch tells me that we’ve been swimming for over two hours. I think back to my swim sessions

at school when I used to be able to swim a mile in an hour. Despite the fact that I’m going faster than ever before, Serena is still miles ahead of me. I can feel my muscles aching, even though I’ve had years of soccer and track training. No wonder Serena has a body like an athlete.

When we finally arrive on land, we walk for ten minutes until we find a pool of water that

Serena says we can drink from. I flop down and gulp it as if it’ll run out. When my belly is full and I can’t physically drink any more, I lie down on top of the dry grass, staring at the water that’s

sparkling against Serena’s skin. She turns her head, snaps her sparkling green eyes onto me, and

smiles. I think she’s slowly starting to melt my cold, hard heart.

Serena

I don’t know why he’s here or where he’s come from, but I don’t think I care either. I was testing him by taking him up the mountain. I wanted to see if he was here for himself or here for us and he

passed my test.

I turn and smile at Kaiden, who is lying on the grass beside me. I can see him looking at me

and I wonder if it’s because I’m nothing like the girls that he’s talked about who live near him.

Apparently, they wear their hair in different styles and wear make-up that makes them look older, hiding any spots that they have on their faces. They wear clothes and shoes that sound completely different than ours. The way he described them, I wanted to be one of those girls, to be pretty and attend school, where you learn new things and have lots of friends.

“Are you ready to walk back?” I ask him.

He leans up and squints at me. “Walk back to where?”

I nod towards the mountain in the distance. “We have to get our clothes.”

His eyes widen and I have to really try to not laugh in his face. “You’re going to make me

walk back up there after I just swam all that way?”

I glance at Elodie who frowns at Kaiden.

“What else were you planning on doing all day?” she asks him.

He huffs and flops back down onto his back. “People should come out here that are training

for a triathlon or something.”

Elodie looks up. “What’s a triathlon?”

Kaiden groans but I can tell he’s not really cross. He stands up and starts walking towards the

mountain, muttering something to himself. I roll my eyes at Elodie as we both get up to follow him.

Elodie squeezes my hand and then runs off to walk beside Kaiden.

I smile at her. I can’t believe the way she’s taken to Kaiden so easily. It’s like we’ve known him all of our lives. I probably shouldn’t have trusted him, but there’s something about him that makes me want to be near him. He hasn’t complained about Elodie and of the many questions that she’s

asked him, and he’s appeared to answer them honestly. It’s like he wants to teach us about his way of life and in return, he’s learning ours, just like he promised he would do.

By the time we get back home, Kaiden’s face is as red as the tomatoes we grow. As soon as I

see our house, I make a run for it and grab the biggest barrel of water that I can find. I unscrew the top off it and push it into Kaiden’s arms. Elodie stands beside me looking worried.

“What’s the matter with his face?” she asks.

“He’s just hot. Go inside, please,” I tell her. She huffs but does as she’s told without

question.

“Drink,” I order, turning back to Kaiden.

He makes a face and slowly pulls the water toward his mouth. I guess we must be used to

this a bit more than he is. We regularly go hours without water in this heat and don’t think anything about it. We don’t seem to get thirsty or feel dizzy, but looking at Kaiden now, I think we may have overestimated how much a person could take that isn’t accustomed to it. He drinks loads and wants to drink more, but I take it away from him.

“You can’t drink too much at one time,” I say. “You’ll have to pace yourself.” I push him

towards the shade of the veranda and direct him to the seat we made out of tree trunks just last

year. “Sit here,” I say, “I’ll fetch you some fruit.”

He doesn’t say anything. He just flops down onto the seat and closes his eyes. I run around